


Forever Reimagined

by worldwide4



Category: Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Don't copy to another site, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:01:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24720499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/worldwide4/pseuds/worldwide4
Summary: Jasper always knew Bella Swan would never join his family, he just didn't know how off he was.
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale, Edward Cullen/Bella Swan, Edward Cullen/Original Character(s), Jacob Black/Bella Swan
Comments: 2
Kudos: 42





	Forever Reimagined

There was a reason Jasper Hale never got close to Bella Swan, his supposed new sister.

The majority of his family chalked it up to bloodlust. His mate brushed it aside as his own aloof personality. His besotted brother hardly gave it a thought at all as far as he knew.

Jasper let them continue with their assumptions.

After all, there were very few secrets in the family. Why shouldn’t he keep something inevitable to himself for a little while longer? Why shatter the illusion Edward brought upon their lives quicker than it needed to end?

It would destroy Edward’s very being, he knew, and more importantly, it would hurt his Alice’s heart. Why should they know the girl they had both claimed as the next Cullen would never become an actual member of the family?

Jasper knew it from the first moment she was officially introduced to the family. The sexual tension and nervous teenage puppy love could hardly be blamed. Jasper himself thought nothing of it as he stood next to Alice, just far enough to appease his uneasy brother, but close enough to bask in the joy emanating from Carlise and Esme as they met the girl who had stolen Edward’s heart for the very first time.

So sure were they of the girl’s more permanent role by Edward’s side, and in extension in this family, so ecstatic were they that Edward had finally found the piece of eternity he had been missing for the last century.

Jasper kept his mouth shut and his mind politely empty. It wasn’t until he caught Rosalie’s eye later that day, saw the question in her arched brow and the smugness in her sneer after he nodded his assent.

She had predicted it from the beginning. Puppy love. Teenage infatuation. That was all it was, and now she had Jasper’s gift to prove it.

Jasper shouldn't have been surprised she figured it out before anyone else. What Rosalie lacked in a physical power she more than made up for in wits. She was his equal in intuition and even without his empath talents, she was truly a force to be reckoned with.

And so she too played along, for everyone’s sake, confident in the knowledge both of them knew to be true. This little romance would be over before the next season.

Except, it wasn’t. The baseball game turned into a manhunt that solidified the happy couple’s idea of star crossed love, of unbreakable bonds tested by a villainous vampiric tracker himself.

Soon Jasper found himself across the country, escorting Bella to the public bathroom on the very day the rest of his family would be joining them in Phoenix to regroup. He realized a second too late she had escaped, and allowed himself just a second more to hope that she had run as far as possible from the vampire world, leaving behind it, and Edward, for good.

Alas, he was wrong. Trust Edward to fall for the one human who would run straight into a formidable tracker’s arms. Jasper made easy work of the nomad with Emmett at his side, vaguely aware of the broken human girl in the corner of the large dance studio with vampire venom cursing through her veins. Perhaps she would turn and they would see for themselves the shallow love between them. Or, perhaps their infatuation could truly bloom into something meaningful whence they were on equal footing.

Fate would not see it so. The girl’s heart continued to beat, and the romance ensued.

Jasper gave the two a passing glance across the dance floor at prom as they stared at each other in wonder, swaying in what they had to have thought counted as dancing, utterly besotted with the other.

They were no different than their peers. In love. Enamored. So young and easily impressionable. It was only a pity they managed to convince themselves of some grandeur to their bond, some predestined love only they shared. Jasper shook his head, and went back to twirling his stunning wife.

The summer that followed was neither good nor bad. Bella was of course at the house every other day, the only times she was absent was when Edward watched her sleep or decided to stare into her muddy, muddy brown eyes at the Swan residence instead.

Jasper tried to keep his thoughts to himself. Luckily, the only mind reader in the family was too preoccupied to dig deeper into his carefully mellow mind.

Rosalie, however, saw right through him and found comfort in his unwavering confidence that only she seemed to be able to read. The lovebirds still showed no real sign that they would last the test of time. And so, neither of them paid the girl any mind. Not that she really tried to interact with anyone outside of Edward besides the occasional dress up session for Alice and brief chat with Emmett.

There was talk of proposals, weddings, future locations to handle a newborn and adapt them to the Cullen lifestyle. If Jasper could have died of exasperation he would have.

Rosalie escaped to Africa, under the guise of another honeymoon with Emmett. Jasper was not so lucky, and endured the hushed whispers his family speculated over when Edward was far enough away from such talk.

It was only a small comfort that his brother had no intentions of turning the girl. Ruined of course by Edward's declaration of staying by her side for the entirety of her human life. Jasper wanted to bang his head against that grand piano and smash it into a million pieces.

Then, of course, September came and Bella celebrated another year passed, another birthday Edward would never experience personally. She was getting more adamant on joining their way of life, and Edward was still pushing back just as stubbornly.

There was talk of the birthday gift next. What to get Edward's little girlfriend for the first of apparently many birthdays she would share here. A family heirloom? The Cullen crest? A ring, perhaps? But Jasper could quite literally feel the sexual and outright frustrated tension in the air between the two and knew the present the girl truly wanted could not be wrapped, no matter how extravagant they went.

Soon, he reasoned, soon one of them was going to realize their love stemmed from the deceptively glorified idea of immortality, the idea of a pretty human girl with a silent mind, and nothing more.

Jasper hinted as much to Rosalie, and she and Emmett were back in Forks within the week. Life would go back to normal after the girl’s birthday. He was sure of it.

Except, it didn’t. Of all the things a human could do wrong in a room full of vampires, cutting her finger on an impeccably wrapped gift was one of the dumbest.

Jasper didn’t plan to lose control, of course, and he did feel terrible for almost draining the girl. He didn’t love her as a sister or even a friend, but that didn’t mean he wanted her dead. The heartbreak that would bring to his Alice, to his family. He felt disgusted he could have been the cause of it had he been just a millisecond quicker in avoiding Emmett’s strong headlock.

They all comforted him, even Edward with his self-pitying misery, but it was Rosalie’s reassurance that helped the most. She murmured it deep in the forest, with the others carefully busied. _This is the push they needed_ , she whispered, inspecting her smooth nails.

Jasper wanted her to be right. Not only did he want this charade over with, but it was now very clear how dangerous their presence in her life was. First James and now Jasper. The girl needed to run as far and as fast as she could for her own sake.

Rosalie was half right. The bloody birthday was indeed a push, but it was Edward who did the running, and like the drama queen he was, he intended to take the entire family with him. _As if we never even existed_ , he said. Jasper barely managed to contain his eye roll.

Esme and Alice vehemently objected of course, Emmett complained of such impulsivity, and Carlisle frowned and spoke in that slow, patient voice he used when trying to steer Edward back into rational waters without forcing his hand.

Their voices fell on deaf ears. Edward had made up his mind. He pulled the damned soul card, the birthday incident, everything in the book, and finally won his case.

Of course, it didn’t hurt that Jasper and Rosalie remained uncharastically un-opinionated and quiet throughout the whole ordeal. The tide was moving in their favor anyway, why bother add salt to wounds if there was no need?

They were completely packed up that night. Jasper had never seen Edward move so fast before in all his time as a Hale. So thorough was he, Jasper was almost surprised Edward didn’t pick up the lone speck of bread crumb from the fireplace so not even the mice would know they had ever been there.

That time, Edward heard, and looked at Jasper with such a dead expression, he almost felt bad for such a comment, even if it was internal.

Ithaca, New York was the chosen location, as far as they could go without leaving the country while still maintaining some of Washington’s cloudy weather.

They settled into a new routine. Carlisle and Esme were sad, of course, but only a fraction of it was for the Swan girl. The majority of it came from the new brokenness of their family.

Edward, gone, presumably to hunt Victoria. Rosalie and Emmett, no longer pretending to be students and thus no longer confined to the house as often as they had been in the last decade. Alice, distraught over her lost almost-sister but also distracted over the search for her human family.

Jasper’s attention was mostly on Alice. He studied philosophy part time out of boredom, but kept close to his wife, and an ear out for Edward. It would be just like his brother to get himself killed after pulling such a dramatic goodbye stunt. Jasper was sure Carlisle was working night shifts for the same reason, likely ready to leave at a moment’s notice if anything went amiss.

Amiss it did indeed go. Jasper should have known better than to hope for anything else. If Bella was a danger magnet, Edward was an addict to such nonsense, and he managed to pull the rest of the family right along with him.

The next time Jasper saw either of them he wanted to rip both of their heads from their bodies. They could pull all the shenanigans they wanted with the Volturi. They would do well to leave his wife out of it next time.

But of course, Jasper had more important matters to attend to, and focused solely on reuniting with Alice. The star crossed morons could be left on their own for now.

Except, apparently, they couldn’t. A vote was called. The entire family, asked to vote on Bella’s official admission into their vampiric life.

Edward and Bella wished to be together forever, but with different ideas of forever. Edward wanted a human lifetime before eventually joining the girl in death. Bella wanted a more immortal solution.

Jasper couldn’t help but wonder if it was truly a good idea for the relationship’s sake to be making huge decisions now when they were at such odds, but none of that mattered as Carlisle casted his vote. He realized, as they all had, that Edward would most definitely take his life within the century if Bella was not changed.

The choice was obvious. Even Jasper had not needed his wife’s talents to know the verdict.

Jasper met Rosalie’s eyes across the room for just a millisecond. They both still doubted the couple’s love, but they certainly underestimated the pair’s stubbornness. It seemed they would be getting a new sister after all.

Rosalie seethed at the girl’s stupidity, mourned her soon to be lost humanity.

Jasper couldn’t dredge up the energy to feel the same. The girl had been in their lives for barely a year and this was the danger she brought. Let her be immortal and carry some of her own weight.

And yet, the doubt persisted in the back of his mind, eventually settling into hope for the happy couple. They will share forever together, Jasper might as well get used to it no matter how little faith he had in their love.

The year progressed, the engagement popped around in conversation, the plans for dealing with the newborn army made. Just another year spent dealing with their melodrama and the danger that always seemed to follow.

Until finally, Jasper got solid proof of his doubts in the form of Jacob Black. The first time he even noticed such a thing was during the graduation party. He saw the pair, felt the emotions rolling off each of them. The effortless chemistry, the obvious claim, even the fight that hung in the air between them felt more natural than any declaration of love or petty squabble Jasper had ever witnessed between Bella and Edward.

What Bella had with Edward was that of any teenage romance- wild, powerful, and as fickle as the flame from which it was born.

This, however, was what it is supposed to be like. Natural, raw, real. None of that dazzling, gilded crap.

Jasper kept his thoughts to himself yet again. He was tempted to amplify the already deep rooted feelings, just to give them a nudge in the right direction, but he knew any involvement would tamper with the results. He was patient and he was confident in his findings. Bella would figure it out on her own eventually. He only hoped it wasn't before she dug herself quite so deep.

Jasper managed to grab Rosalie’s attention across the room and indicated the pair. She needed only a second to figure out his message, and her eyes widened in shock before composing herself once more. Jasper didn’t need to ask to know that her mind was as carefully normal as his.

It seemed to be a wasted effort. With the newborn army, the almost engagement, and the rivalry between Jacob Black, Edward was far too wrapped up in his own mind to even notice the growing confidence in theirs. And even when he wasn’t, he much preferred Alice’s visions, Carlisle's calm, or Esme’s tranquility to dive into rather than the thoughts of the more pessimistic Hales. Even Emmett’s mind was infinitely lighter than anyone else’s in the house.

The alliance between the Cullen's and the wolf pack began and Jasper almost gave himself away when he saw Bella interacting with Jacob in wolf form. The chemistry was as clear as day even with the naked eye, the level of comfort far surpassing anything shown to his brother before. It was when the wolf licked Bella, only for the girl to break out in laughter seconds later, that Jasper internally crowed, then shook himself for such a lapse in composure. He very nearly revealed all in a single heartbeat. Almost, but not quite, not when the entire clearing was watching the pair.

Edward must have gotten the same image reflected back to him from over a dozen pairs of eyes, and quite a handful of those decidedly more obvious than Jasper’s own pointed thoughts on the scene before them.

Time passed quickly then. The engagement, accepted and unconsummated (to the great amusement of both Jasper and Emmett). The graduation, as monotonous as the many before it. The battle, won and done. Victoria, beheaded and turned to ash.

News found its way to his ears, after all there were no secrets in this family. Bella had apparently said goodbye to Jacob Black, this time making her choice clear. Alice said this as she sketched yet another design for Bella’s wedding dress. Jasper could only nod and hum vaguely. He’d be willing to bet his new motorcycle that the next white dress Bella wore would not be for his brother.

The summer passed as time tends to when one is immortal, simultaneously unbearably slow and unthinkably quick. But there were hints of distress, hints of cracks forming across the happy wedding buzz encasing most of his family members.

Jasper schooled his thoughts every time Edward came home, each time feeling more upset than the last. Confusion, denial, hurt, jealousy, heartache- all felt in varying degrees as the weeks of summer flew by. The girl spoke in her sleep, Jasper remembered. He was sure that was it.

Jasper did not dare ask even Alice, who was planning as rigorously as ever. But he noticed the clenching of her jaw, the slight twitch of her hand. Her eyes were unfocused and her mind determined, a combination Jasper clearly recognized as Alice trying desperately to think of something, anything other than whatever visions she was getting.

He needed no more telling than that, and did not bother ordering his own groomsman tux.

Finally, a week before the wedding, Bella let the other shoe drop. Why she decided to wait so long was beyond Jasper, but he knew nothing of the conversation that followed, knew nothing of exactly what was or was not said in the months between graduation and the would-be wedding.

All he knew was the silence of the house as Edward came home, the miserable medley of emotions at an unbearable high. Alice was downstairs in a flash, rushing to meet Edward only to be ignored as their brother locked himself in his room for the next week.

Alice told the family, of course. How could she not? The almost-groom hadn’t shown his face even on the day of his now cancelled wedding.

It was September and nearing Bella’s nineteenth birthday when Edward could take it no longer and decided to leave with nothing but the shirt on his back and his mother’s returned engagement ring. To Denali, or maybe London. He didn’t know where he would go but it would not be to the Volturi. Alice confirmed it, and they let him go. What else was there to do?

Jasper got the full story then, or at least as much as Alice could gather given the blind spots the wolves presented.

Bella had chosen Jacob. There was no immediate plan Alice could see, but they were together, and they planned to attend school in the state for the time being.

That was all. And that was enough for everyone to pack up and leave. After all, what else was left? They were long overdue a move, their appearances having been questioned too many times to safely stay especially after such a scandal. They had no desire for the spotlight and conveniently the cancelled wedding served as a perfect excuse to fade away.

Years passed and they kept tabs on Edward. After a few brief stints in Alaska and the Northeast, visiting and wallowing in the would-be colleges he had planned to take his newborn bride to after the transformation, Edward stayed mostly around the Northwest. He went back to his family whenever they moved to a new location, but would always go once every month, year, decade to check in on Bella.

Jasper learned more about the girl than he ever intended to, but that could not be helped, especially not when it came from his Alice. After all, this was the girl who would have been family in another life. It was only natural to wonder what became of her.

Bella Swan became Bella Black just five years after they left.

She started at a community college near Forks while Jacob finished his education in La Push before they both moved to California where Bella attended a four year university and obtained an undergraduate’s degree in english studies. They were engaged shortly after graduation and married even sooner after that. The newlyweds then moved back to Washington to raise a family. Bella became a mother of twin boys who would inherit the wolf gene and one girl who would not. The Black’s would live in Seattle for some time, before moving to a modest house in Forks after their children had grown and flown the nest.

A good enough life, Jasper mused. Certainly better than being killed by the Volturi. But vampires experienced time so differently than humans, which brought into play yet another problem to prey on their minds. 

The girl’s life was drawing to an end. Even without a medical degree it didn’t take a genius to count the decades.

The entire family put up a united front to keep Edward away from Washington then. Pulled him into this scheme to delay the Volturi or that mission to finish off the rest of James’s coven. It took longer than it should have, but what else could they do but purposefully draw it out years longer than necessary? It was buying time, before Edward returned, before he could see what had become of the girl.

Finally, they could stall no longer and Edward slipped back to the modest house on the edge of the Forks and La Push border. He went alone, but the others were waiting just a state away, all positioned to block his exit to Italy, to the Volturi.

And yet, it wasn’t necessary. Alice strained for visions of him in the sunlight, of exposing himself there in America, but there were none. She got snippets that were half obscured, a guarantee Edward had associated himself with someone of wolf blood. Jasper suspected foul play, but Alice assured him she could see Edward every day, alive and well, but decidedly preoccupied with the wolves and their brethren.

Finally, there was word from Edward. He wished to meet the family back at their new Seattle house. He had a surprise.

Alice went silent for the week preceding Edward’s visit. Her eyebrows knitted, her mouth puckered in rare perplexion. She could not seem to even believe what she was seeing.

They all tried to weedle the truth out of her but it was futile. Whatever was coming, they would get no warning.

And then at last, they met their brother after years apart.

Jasper felt a distinct sense of deja vu. He stood next to his wife, slightly behind Carlisle and Esme as they all greeted Edward and the girl he had on his arm. This time, Emmett and Rosalie were seated on the steps by their feet. They all had a perfect view of Edward, lanky and unchanged, and the girl.

Renah. An unusual name. A combination of Sarah and Renee, they were told.

The girl’s skin was a shade darker than her late grandmother’s but still fairer than her grandfather’s. Her slightly curled black hair, muddy brown eyes, and flushed cheeks were all clear giveaways of her grandparents. It was her scent that confirmed it however. Wolf, but watered down with the sweet allure of her grandmother’s blood.

Renah Black, only granddaughter of Bella and Jacob Black, with the same silent mind and lovestruck eyes as her grandmother.

Jasper closed his eyes and used every ounce of his self control not to throw himself, or the new couple, into the Pacific.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Okay so a little weird that Edward ends up with Bella’s kid BUT is that not what Renesmee basically is? Jacob with Bella’s kid? I originally planned on Bella just ending up with Jacob but the idea struck me and it just fit so well with Smeyer’s canon as well as my idea of Edward: protecting the last piece of Bella, and falling in love with her all the same. ALSO tipping my hat to Bella’s dream in New Moon with what she thought was her grandmother and Edward standing in the meadow. 
> 
> Renah = Renee + Sarah. It’s meant to be a parody on Renesmee who was also named after her grandmothers


End file.
